


Secret Santa

by Vega_Lume



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: AU, Get Together, Holiday, M/M, occ-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 20:38:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13108110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vega_Lume/pseuds/Vega_Lume
Summary: Every year the office has a Secret Santa Exchange and Duo keeps getting Heero, the most difficult person to shop for.





	Secret Santa

Beta: ShenLong (Deb)

For Noirangetrois I hope you like it.

Secret Santa  
By Vel

 

Dorothy was smiling, that alone should have tipped him off but he had been in such good spirits that he dismissed it. That was until he saw the festive envelope on his desk.

“Oh no,” Duo groaned as he turned the small red item over to inspect it. It was sealed but he already knew what he was going to find, after all he had gotten the same person as his secret Santa for the past two years.

It was rigged. It had to be  
.  
Taking a deep breath he slid a finger under the flap to break the seal and pulled the simple white card from inside nearly wincing as he flipped it over.

‘Yuy’, printed in Director Une’s tidy script.

Tossing it on his desk he dropped into his chair with a sigh. Yuy was absolutely the worst person to have buy a gift for because no one knew anything about him, at least no one Duo knew and could ask for advice, except maybe Une but she swore to never give advice during the Secret Santa gift giving stating that if she were to tell one what to get then the gift would be from her, not them.

Yuy never really talked to anyone else and often stayed in his office all day only interacting with Une and her assistant Dorothy. Plus by the undecorated state of his office he seemed to have no real interest in anything.

“Catalonia looks rather amused,” his partner said from their open doorway. “You got Yuy again, didn’t you?”

The stink eye Duo gave his friend was conformation enough and Wufei chuckled.

“Why don’t you just buy him a gift card and be done with it?” he asked, taking a seat at his own desk. His secret Santa envelope was tucked between two manuals, most likely hidden there so Duo wouldn’t switch them.

“A gift card to where exactly?” Duo retorted. “He doesn’t like anything, hell he doesn’t even eat out.”

Wufei took a moment to contemplate the question and much to Duo’s dismay the man came up with nothing.

“See, I told you.” His head dropped to his desk with a thump. He was quiet for a moment then mumbled, “Who’d you get?”

Sliding the envelope from its hiding place Wufei opened it. “Catalonia.”

“Ouch,” Duo said in sympathy.

“Indeed.”

~*~

For two days the tiny white card mocked him from its place on the corner of his desk. He had been tempted to throw it away and pretend he had never gotten it, but that wasn’t fair to Heero. Just because a cinder block was easier to buy for it didn’t mean he should go without a gift.

He was a nice enough guy as bosses went but he was ‘management’ and Duo didn’t spend much time on the executive level of the building where Yuy and Une’s offices were located.

Picking the card up, he turned it over and over again as he thought about the other man. To be honest he didn’t really try to get to know him and aside from knowing that he had transferred to their office about five years earlier, he figured there wasn’t much else he needed to know.

Dropping the card again Duo propped elbow on the desk, resting his chin in his hand he stared at the innocent piece of cardstock.

“Willing it to burst into flames?” Wufei inquired as he shuffled through a pile of files.  
“Is Yuy married?” Duo asked and Wufei stopped his shuffling.

“I don’t think so,” he replied. “He doesn’t wear a wedding ring. Why do you ask?”

“Why do you think?” Duo replied. “I just realized that the man has been my boss going on five years and I know virtually nothing about him. I mean, I know Director Une’s first name is Anne, she is a 36 year old widow with a nine year old daughter and her husband died six years ago in a car accident. She has two tiny dogs, drives a piece of shit car and is addicted to British comedy and Junior Mints.”

Wufei chuckled. 

“And Dorothy, she swears like a sailor, always has her mind in the gutter and we all know she’s in a relationship with the younger sister of Milliardo in accounting, and she’d bite your balls off if you dared to say anything about it.”

“Now that is absolutely true,” Wufei agreed.

“Yuy though, the man is a mystery.”

“You could try to get to know him,” his friend pointed out and Duo frowned.

“When though?” he asked. “He stays in his office all day; he doesn’t even eat lunch in the Lounge like the rest of us.”

“Well,” Wufei began. “He seems relatively harmless, why don’t you just go up there and talk to him?”

“And have Dorothy pounce on me? No thank you.” Duo started drumming his fingers on the table.

“Tomorrow,” Wufei stated. “You can go up there when Une and Catalonia are having lunch in The Lounge, that way she won’t bother you.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot,” Duo relented.

~*~*

Duo spent most of the next morning thinking of a plausible reason to go up and talk to Yuy. It wasn’t until Wufei absently mumbled something about still needing to get Dorothy’s gift that Duo was inspired.

Yuy’s office door was open and Duo could see the man seated at his desk typing away on the computer keyboard. Taking a deep breath he tapped on the door frame and waited.

“Mister Maxwell,” Yuy greeted as he looked up from the documents stacked neatly on his desk. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Duo glanced around the almost sterile white office for a second before stepping inside.  
“Actually, yes. If you have a moment?”

The other man turned his full attention on him so Duo continued, though the idea seemed a little stupid now.

“I know that the Secret Santa assignments are supposed to be secret but my partner Chang Wufei got Director Une’s assistant this year and he’s nearly pulling out his hair trying to figure out what to get her. You work with her nearly all day and I was wondering if you had any ideas or suggestions I could pass along?” Realizing he was rambling he shut up.

Yuy genuinely looked amused. Turing at the waist he pulled open one of the lower drawers in his desk and pulled out what turned out to be a catalog.

“Try this,” he said holding it out. “Most anything in here will amuse her. Just don’t get her the circled item on page ten. I already bought that for my Secret Santa.”

“Who’d you get,” Duo couldn’t help but ask as he took the book from Yuy’s outstretched hand.

“Une,” he replied.

Duo laughed. “Well thanks for this,” he said to the other man as he started for the door. Yuy simply nodded in reply and turned back to his typing. Duo couldn’t help but think that he saw a frown on Yuy’s face when he realized he was leaving.

How odd.

After riding the elevator back down to his floor, he tossed the catalog on his desk and waited for Wufei to get back from lunch.

“How did it go?” the dark haired man asked as he hung up his jacket.

“He said Dorothy would like pretty much anything in the book,” Duo replied and Wufei walked over to take a look.

“Archie McPhee?” 

“Just don’t order the circled thing on page ten, Yuy already bought that for someone else.”

Out of curiosity Wufei flipped over to page ten and snickered.

“Did he say who he bought it for?” Wufei asked and Duo nodded.   
“Yeah, it’s for Une.”

He laughed louder, “Look.” He held the book out.

Circled on the page was a desk name plate, but rather than having a name on it, it said ‘Fucker in charge of you Fucking Fuckers’*

“She’ll love it,” Duo grinned. Closing the book he went to hand it back when something caught his eye. Turing the book right side up, he read the address label in surprise.

“Yuy lives in my building,” he blurted.

“What?”

“Look,” he pointed to the address. “This says he lives in the north block, on the other side from my apartment.”

“How could you not know that?”

Duo frowned, “It’s a huge building and his apartment is on the north side, mine is on the south. Each side of the building has their own designated parking area and mailboxes, so there really isn’t a reason for us to run into each other there.”

Duo read the name on the label again, Heero Yuy. Now he knew what the H. painted on his door meant.

“Here, let me look through the book. I’ll pick out something then you can take it back tomorrow as another excuse to go up and talk to him.”

Duo’s scoff died when he realized that that was exactly what he was going to do as a new plan formed in his mind.

~*~

“Hey Boss man,” Duo greeted. “I brought your catalog back.”

Yuy turned quickly and Duo couldn’t help but smile at the surprised look on the other man’s face. He doubted that anyone had ever addressed him so informally before, except maybe Une or Dorothy. 

However he regained his composure quickly and offered a smile in return.

“That wasn’t necessary,” he replied. Setting down his chopsticks, he started tucking his lunch container back into the insulated bag that had been sitting beside it. “I’m on their mailing list.”

“That reminds me,” Duo said as he crossed the office to set the book on the desk. “I noticed that we live in the same building. I was wondering if you’d like to carpool sometime, on Mondays and Fridays maybe. Morning traffic would be a lot more bearable with company.” 

The man was quiet for a moment before replying, “Okay, ” then asked, “Where is your apartment?”

“South block number b428,” Duo readily replied. “On days when you drive I can meet you in the north lot and when I drive you can come to the south lot. Does that work for you?”

“Perfectly. How about I drive on Friday and you drive on Monday to start?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Duo approved then started for the door again, wanting to get off of the executive floor before Dorothy and Une got back from lunch. “So I’ll meet you in the north lot, 7 am tomorrow.”

Heero nodded, a small smile on his lips and Duo waved over his shoulder as he strode out into the hall.

That went far more smoothly than Duo had anticipated. There was bound to be something in Heero’s car to give Duo an idea as to what to get him, there just had to be.

~*~

The next morning Duo was a bit disappointed. Heero’s small, white four-door car, with pale grey upholstery was as barren as his office and had a distinct and almost headache inducing ‘new car’ smell. 

Boring.

They rode to the office in silence. Walked through the parking garage in silence and rode the elevator in silence. With a small nod to the other man, Duo stepped out onto his floor and watched the doors close to carry the other man up two more floors.

With a deep sigh he walked to the office he shared with Wufei and started working.   
Several hours later his phone chirped and he looked down at the screen to read his message. Wufei was back from his meeting and was having lunch in The Lounge.

He shut down his computer and grabbed his jacket. The elevator was stuffed full of folks heading down to lunch so he made his way to the stairwell taking the steps as quickly as he could, making it down the six flights to the ground floor so quickly that he beat the elevator.

Though the line was long the wonderful ladies that ran the restaurant worked swiftly to ensure that everyone got fed before their lunch hours were up, especially since many of the people worked in the surrounding buildings.

Spotting Wufei seated near a window, he weaved his way through the crowd, dropping his change in the ‘Holiday Chest’, a special bonus for one lucky part-timer or unpaid intern who would be chosen at random by computer during the party in two weeks.

Gently pushing his way between the wall and a woman, he sat beside his friend. “Well, that was a bust,” Duo said glumly as he set his tray on the table. 

Wufei raised an eyebrow in question; he had been out of the office for a meeting and hadn’t seen Duo all morning.

“We carpooled this morning and Heero’s car is just at sterile as his office is,” Duo elaborated. Someone bumped him and the veggies plopped out of the bottom of his sandwich to land on his tray with a splat. He frowned but picked them up with his fingers and ate them anyway.

“Mr. Yuy eats in his office, right? Why don’t you get him a lunch bag or a Bento box for his gift?” Wufei commented around his mouthful. 

“He has one,” Duo replied. “I saw it yesterday when I took the catalog back.”

“A lunch bag, or a Bento box?” 

“Both,” Duo responded. “And chopsticks with a storage case and a thermal bottle.” He sighed. His left elbow propped on the table his chin resting in his upturned palm while his right hand fingers drummed the table in agitation. 

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” Wufei said as he stood, tray in hand. “But you only have two weeks left until the party.”

Duo groaned, his head dropping to the table.

Wufei just chuckled and patted his shoulder before walking away.

With a sigh Duo sat up and finished his sandwich. When he joined Wufei in the office, about twenty minutes later he had a new game plan.

Now since Heero had that catalog mailed to his home there was a good chance he liked the stuff the store carried as well and Duo had two weeks, with luck he could order something and have it delivered in time, all he had to do was decide what to get.  
Easier said than done.   
As he searched the store’s web site he found hundreds of hilarious things that would make good gifts, some of which, if he wanted to be honest, he would have liked to have gotten for himself. The website had a sister store that carried clothing items and something tugged at his memory but before he could put his finger on it another page loaded he spotted something he hadn’t noticed before. 

They had a local store.

“Yes!”

Wufei’s head shot up from where he was hunched over a file and Duo grinned.  
“Sorry, inspiration struck,” Duo apologized.

“It’s about time,” his friend grumbled seemingly disinterested as he turned back to his work.

The work day couldn’t end fast enough for Duo and he was nearly bouncing in seat waiting for the time to clock out.

~*~*~

“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” Heero commented as he pressed the button on his key fob, unlocking the car doors.

“I had a breakthrough on a project I’ve been working on,” Duo replied keeping a discrete eye on Heero as the man climbed into the car, at seeing the flash of color at the other mans ankle Duo fought the grin he felt tugging at his lips. Turing his attention to his seat belt he buckled up.

Heero slid his key in the ignition and Duo noticed something else, on the back of the fob was the mascot for his old high school.

“The Cougars,” Duo asked with a nod towards the steering column. “You went to Brooks?”

He nodded, “96 to 99.”

“Me too,” Duo replied and Heero said, “I know, I was on the yearbook committee. You were in a lot of clubs.”

“Small world,” Duo commented and sat deeper in his seat as the car pulled out of the parking space, “Same high school, same apartment building, and same workplace.”

“Same Middle School too,” Heero added as he navigated their way through the large underground parking area and out onto the street. “We had science with Mrs. Summers in 7th grade.”

“You’re shitting me,” Duo blurted and Heero chuckled.

“I shit you not,” he smiled. “I sat in the front near the window.”

“Wait a minute,” Duo struggled, “You had glasses and braces right? That shithead Donavan picked on you.”

Heero frowned at the mention of the school bully but nodded anyway. 

“I do remember you and not for the glasses,” he added quickly. “You won a state chess thing or something like that; you were in the school paper. There was a huge trophy in the case near the main office.”

“Actually, I came in second in the final competition,” Heero replied. “The trophy was because I came in first within our city.”

“Still a great accomplishment,” Duo said sincerely and Heero smiled.

The tall apartment complex loomed before them, Heero scanned his pass and the security gates opened allowing the car to enter the North block parking area.

Heero stopped the car near the pedestrian walkway near the elevators so Duo wouldn’t have to walk as far to get to his apartment.

“I’ll pick you up by the South block elevator, Monday at 7,” Duo said.

“See you then,” Heero replied and pulled away after the passenger door closed.

Duo waited until the car was out of sight before skirting around the support wall then dashing across the garage to south end where his car was waiting. 

The store he was looking for was in the mall and it wasn’t as crowded as he feared, allowing him to browse the aisles in relative peace. Before he had panicked at the thought of not finding a gift at all, now he couldn't decide which one of the items in his armload he was going to settle on.

A store employee looked up from the box she was unpacking and tucked a thick hank of golden blonde hair behind her ear as Duo dithered over two of the items in his ever growing pile.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked and he turned to face her.

“Not really, I’m just trying to decide which of these to get for my Secret Santa.”

“Why don’t you just get them both?” she suggested. “Those are on sale, buy one get the other half off.”

Duo grinned, “Thanks!” he called out to her and gathered the items and went to pay for them. The girl just shrugged and went back to the shelving.

Back in his apartment later that night Duo stared at the shopping bag, wondering now how he was going to present the gift. He didn’t want to just dump everything in a box, especially since Heero had opted to get his gift at the party and not through the inter-office mail like most.

With a sigh he went to the kitchen to start his dinner.

Meal cooked, consumed, and cleaned up and he still didn’t know what he was going to do with the gift now that he had it.

Upending the bag on the kitchen counter he sifted through it, setting aside the one thing he had bought for himself before looking over each item again. With a frustrated growl he started stuffing everything back in the bag when his pile of mail caught his attention.  
He snickered as an idea formed.

~*~*~*~*

Heero was adorably groggy Monday morning as he climbed into Duo’s warm car, he settled into the seat with his eyes closed, nursing a large mug coffee. It was painfully obvious the boss man wasn’t a morning person, and like Friday the ride to was quiet with nothing said past a soft ‘good morning’.

Duo sat in his office, his eyes going to the clock as it inched towards the lunch hour.  
“Hello Duo,” Quatre called as he slipped the handful of mail into the box that hung on the office door.

“Oh, hey Kat, Duo greeted in reply. “Say, have you delivered the mail to the bosses yet?”

“Nope,” he replied. “I start at the bottom floor and work my way up. Why do you ask?”

Duo opened his desk and pulled out a small padded envelope. “Could you pop this in Yuy’s mailbox for me? I planned on doing it but I don’t want Dorothy pouncing on me.”

Quatre laughed and took the envelope, slipping into Yuy’s mail pile. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“Thanks Kat.”

As the blond disappeared from view, Duo’s eyes went back to the clock.

~*~*~*~

“Hello Quatre,” Dorothy purred. She was seated at her desk directly across the room from the elevator, Une’s office to her left, Yuy’s to the right. Though she was primarily Une’s secretary she did help Yuy from time to time so her desk was placed where she could be easily accessible to both the director and assistant director. 

“Miss Catalonia,” he greeted pleasantly, rolling his cart silently across the carpet. He pulled a bundle from the basket and placed it on her desk before selecting another, stuffing it into the mailbox on Yuy’s closed door, then repeating the process with Une’s mail. With a nod towards the other blond he turned his cart and headed back to the elevator. 

Several minutes later an office door opened and Heero collected his mail. Leaving the door open he returned to his desk and sifted through it. On the bottom of the pile he found a manila envelope with just his name printed on the front. There was no indication as to whom it was from; it wasn’t even sealed, just held closed with the flap tucked inside. His brow puckered as he pulled the flap up and peered inside. 

A smile spread across his face as he pulled the soft item out and looked it over. It was a pair of socks. They were two toned grey, but it was the words woven into them that amused him. ‘Worst Gift Ever’ was printed on the ankles where it could be clearly seen while being worn. There was also a little cartoon sock with a frown seated on some steps under the words. Tucking them back into the envelope he slipped it in his briefcase and went back to work.

The next day there was another envelope and another pair of socks. This pair boldly stated, ‘I’m not Bossy, I’m the Boss.’ 

On Wednesday the pair had, ‘I love my job… Ha, ha! Just kidding!’

By Thursday he was waiting for Quatre so he could collect his mail in person and had to bite his tongue to not laugh at the ‘Ringmaster of the Shit Show’ socks he received that day.

“Good morning,” Duo called as Heero pulled up Friday morning, he couldn’t help a discreet glance at Heero’s ankle, but the pants covered the socks entirely so he wasn’t able to see if he was wearing any of the socks he had given him.

Climbing into the car he settled into the seat and enjoyed the quiet ride to work.  
“Hey boss man,” Duo smiled from the door. It was lunch and the ladies were down in The Lounge enjoying the special deserts Mrs. Grimble made on Fridays. Nearly everyone had bought a raffle ticket to win the ‘One year of free Friday desert’ Mrs. Grimble donated to their Christmas party every year.

“Hello Duo,” Heero smiled.

Duo couldn’t help but notice the envelope still sitting on Heero’s desk, today’s pair had said ‘Adult in Training’. 

“I brought you a slice of Mrs. Gimble’s cheesecake,” he said holding up the small insulated carton. “On Monday I remember you saying you loved it but hated the crowds down in The Lounge.” 

“You didn’t have to,” he said but Duo could see he really wanted it so he just deposited it on the desk and set the plastic fork beside it. “Thank you.”

“No problem, I'll see you after work.”

That evening Duo’s observations paid off and he spotted a flash of grey and orange as Heero stepped into the car. ‘Ringmaster of The Shit Show’ it was and Duo was insanely pleased that Heero was wearing the gifts. 

They chatted through the ride, mostly about the horror that was high school.  
“Do you have any plans this weekend?” he surprised himself by asking just as Heero stopped by the elevator in the apartment garage and Heero looked over at him.

“Not really, just housekeeping and shopping. Why?”

“No reason, I just didn’t have any plans and wondered if you wanted to hang out or something.”

Heero didn’t hesitate, “Sure, you can come over tomorrow around five if you want, and we could watch a movie.”

Duo grinned and climbed from the car, “I’ll bring some snacks.”

Heero waved through the window after the door was closed and drove off.

Duo didn’t know why he was nervous as he walked down the long hallway that was identical to the one that led to his apartment, but it felt kind of weird visiting Heero in his home, though they had known of each other for over a decade they had only known each other for a week. 

Shifting the bag to one arm he knocked on the door. A moment later it opened and the slightly shorter man stepped back so Duo could enter. Heero was dressed casually in a pair of worn, faded jeans, a t-shirt and the ‘I love my Job’ socks.

Heero offered to take the shopping bag to the kitchen as Duo looked around the room in interest. The layout was basically the same as his own, just mirrored. The built in shelving units were stuffed with books and the furniture looked comfortable and inviting.

Heero joined him on the sofa near the fireplace several minutes later, setting out the snacks so they were in easy reach. 

They decided to stream a movie on the vid and sat back to enjoy it.

After the movie they ordered Chinese food and watched another movie while they ate. As it neared eleven they called it a night and Heero walked him to the door.

“See you Monday morning,” he said in lieu of goodbye and Duo just smiled, tossing a little wave over his shoulder as he strolled away from the door.

~*~*~*

Walking into the office on Monday was a treat; it was like the entire holiday department of Wal-Mart had exploded all over the building over the weekend. There were lights on the cubicles, ornaments on the light fixtures, stickers of Santa and Christmas trees stuck to the elevator doors, garland and streamers draped over everything, including employees, or so it seemed as Quatre was festooned with glittery stuff as he made his rounds.

Heero didn’t expect any more socks so he was delighted when another envelope found its way to his mailbox everyday for another week.

On Monday he found ‘Cute by Psycho’, Tuesday it was ‘I Hate Everyone Too.’ Wednesday was, ‘Certified Pain in the Ass’ and on Thursday was ‘Happy Elfin’ Holidays’, that pair he wore to work the next day and Duo didn’t miss the vibrant red and green of them as Heero stepped out of the car when they arrived to work on Friday.

“I brought my own lunch today because the Lounge is closed in preparation for the party,” Duo said as they rode the elevator. “Want some company for lunch?”

“Always,” Heero replied.

“Okay,” Duo stepped out on his floor, “See you at noon.”

Heero nodded once as the door slid shut. Duo snickered at the jolly Santa that came into view as the door closed and turned to his office.

After setting out the last envelope for Quatre he turned on his computer, logged in and started the workday.

Heero looked up as Quatre slipped an envelope in the mailbox and walked away. Heero hadn’t expected to get one today as he had planned on going to the party. The last gift should have been sent down to The Lounge so the party guests could get them there. It was tradition to exchange them at the party. Some even opted to open them there so others could see what they got.

Pulling the package from the slot he carried over to his desk and opened the flap. This pair was gold and brown ‘ugly sweater’ pattern, they didn’t say anything at all, but featured a pair of fornicating reindeer that fortunately were situated low enough on the ankle not to be seen when wearing. 

He laughed loudly and Dorothy’s confused mumble of “What the hell?” could be heard though his still open door. He ignored her and tucked the socks into his briefcase. 

~*~*~

The Lounge wasn’t a crowded as he expected it to be, but it was the last shopping day before Christmas so most of the staff had probably taken off to get some last minute shopping done. Also most of the folks in the building had opted to get their Secret Santa gifts and bonuses through the inter-office mail earlier that day. There really was no reason to stick around for the party unless they were trying for one of the raffle prizes, you had to be present to claim the prize if you won.

Though lunch in Heero’s office had been nice Duo was a nervous wreck. The gift he had finally settled on didn’t seem like such a good idea now. He had forgotten that people liked to open and share what they got at the party and what he got wasn’t something he really wanted to share. He had been tempted to run out to the store and grab another pair of socks and save the other gift for later, but the holiday party started right after clock out and Heero had driven that day. There was no way he could get all the way to the store and back without missing a huge chunk of the party.

Taking a seat near the back of the room he watched as folks mingled, chatting and snacking while listening to the upbeat Christmas music. The actual exchange wouldn’t happen until after all the raffle prizes had been given out and the raffle was set to begin the moment Une arrived with the name of the winner of the special ‘Holiday Chest’.

“May I?” Heero called loudly to be heard over the music and indicated to the empty chair with his cup of punch.

“Please do,” Duo replied in an equal tone and Heero slid into the chair. He had removed his suit jacket and tie, and had rolled the sleeves of his button down shirt up to his elbows. Duo felt that warm sort of squish in his gut again and once again wished he had brought a ‘dummy’ gift for the party so he could give the real gift without so many eyes on them.

Dorothy had invited her girlfriend and the two women were up on the tiny stage singing a Karaoke version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ while Quatre laughed as he his boyfriend Trowa danced amongst the dozen others all moving together near the large artificial tree.

Zechs and his wife were seated at a table with Wufei, all huddled close so they could hear each other over the loud, surprisingly well performed song. As the music ended Une made her appearance so Dorothy turned it down so it was more of a comfortable background hum, then she and Relena found a table leaving the stage for Une.

“Happy holiday’s everyone,” Une said as she took up the microphone. “I would like to begin this year’s announcement with the ‘Holiday Chest.’ As you all know this special gift is only for the part time employees and the unpaid interns. At this time I would like to thank all of the salaried employees that donated the funds to make this special gift possible.” She paused briefly as the guests applauded. After things quieted down again she continued, pulling an envelope from her pocket that contained a single randomly, computer drawn name, she tore it open, “Mrs. Valentina Garcia.”

“Congratulations Teeny,” a woman called out as the petite mother of three who worked in executive housekeeping appeared, accepting the small chest from Une with a stunned looked on her face. The ‘Chest’ always contained the paper change from the patrons of the Lounge as well as other monetary gifts that people had been adding for the past two weeks. Though only the recipient knew how much was inside, it was rumored that past chests held upwards of $2,000.

The crowd applauded again as a security guard guided her to the door, then took the chest for safe keeping so she could enjoy the rest of the party. He would walk her to her car later if she so wanted.

After the roar died down again Une pulled out a sheet of paper, “Now for the raffle prizes. One month priority parking goes to Lewis Stevenson. $100 gift card to Suzy Wong, free hot drink every Monday for a year from Roasted Bean to Gloria Stuart, another $100 gift card Anna Lee Masterson…” After each name the crowd clapped and Une continued down the list, reading off nearly two dozen names, “And, for the most coveted of raffle prizes, one free desert every Friday for a year from Mrs. Grimble and The Lounge to Duo Maxwell.”

“Oh you lucky bastard,” Dorothy blurted. Rather than be insulted Duo laughed and replied, “Tell you what Dorothy, you can have the first piece of cheesecake, consider it my Christmas gift to you.” Relena nudged her girlfriend and the other woman smiled.

“Now for the gifts,” Une announced and with the help of a few of the employees the pile of gifts was distributed. Duo didn’t miss the flash of disappointment on Heero’s face when nothing was set before him but it faded quickly into a look of interest at the parcel that Duo received.

It was from Sylvia, one of the girls that worked on the second floor, he didn’t really know what she did but apparently she had good taste in movies. He looked though the stack of six films and said to Heero, “Want to have another movie night?”

Before Heero had a chance to reply Wufei let out an indignant squawk that was quickly followed by a loud peal of laughter from Dorothy. The pair turned to the other table and saw Wufei holding up a rather large wall calendar filled with scantily dressed firemen.  
“That isn’t the real gift,” she managed through the laughter. “There’s a gift card in the back.”

Finding the gift card to Barns and Noble, he tucked it aside and watched as the woman opened her gift. Inside the small square box she found a plain, glossy black coffee mug. She turned it over in her hands and let out a bark of laughter. Tipping it up she showed the other the bottom of the mug where a hand with a raised middle finger was printed.  
“Thank you for the thoughtful gift Chang,” she said as she returned the cup to its box.  
Zechs opened his gift next and more laughter followed as he held up a generic bath and body set with ‘Macho Peach Mango’ scented products. Knowing a gag gift when he saw one he sifted through the paper in the box and found a hard cover novel he had been interested in.

“Who was your gift from,” his wife asked and he checked the tag again.

“Une,” he replied.

“Anne, what did you get?” Noin called and the other woman carried her gift over to show the others.

“Oh this is priceless,” Dorothy commented as she held the name plate up. Duo grinned, he remembered seeing it circled in the catalog. “Who gave it to you?”

“Heero,” she replied. 

Duo turned to see Heero’s expression, his smile slipping from his face when he realized Heero wasn’t sitting across from him anymore.

Gathering up his movie disks he got up and squeezed through the crowd and out into the lobby.

“Hey Ben, have you seen Mr. Yuy?” Duo asked the security guard posted by the main entrance.

“He just took the elevator down,” the older man replied, “Number 6.”

“Thanks,” Duo replied, already making his way to the bank of elevators. He jabbed the down button and number 2 dinged. Stepping inside he pressed P2, his foot tapping impatiently as he was carried down to the second parking level. When the door opened he could hear the faint click of footsteps. Hurrying in that direction he spotted the other man as he neared his car.

“Heero?” Duo called his voice echoing loudly in the underground parking structure. The other man stopped and turned with an acknowledging nod. 

“I’m sorry, I know I drove you but I've had enough of the party…”

“I was your Secret Santa.” Heero frowned at the quickly revealed statement but Duo forged on. “I did get you something but I didn’t want you opening it where everyone was watching.” He finished by holding out a small, unwrapped box.

Heero accepted it with a curious expression and removed the lid. 

Duo’s heart raced as Heero stared at the contents for several excruciating minutes, then he looked up pinning Duo with his gaze and smiled.

Stepping closer, Duo lifted the mistletoe from the box and held it above Heero’s head.  
Heero’s eyes darted up to look at the small plant Duo was dangling over him then turned so their eyes met.

Duo leaned in and their lips met.

Heero’s eyes were closed when Duo pulled back, his lips tingling from the kiss.

“How about we start our movie night tonight?” Duo asked, his movies disks still in his other hand.

Heero chuckled as his eyes blinked open; he nodded and pressed the fob to unlock the car. “I really love the socks,” he said as they climbed into the car and Duo laughed. He had figured that Duo had been the one giving him the socks even before he told him he was his Secret Santa.

“Me too,” he replied pulling his pant leg up to show Heero a pair that said, ‘Not Gonna Lie, I Just Make Shit Up.’ 

Climbing into the car he leaned across, “Merry Christmas,” Duo whispered before closing the gap between them again. 

Owari

**Author's Note:**

> Archie McPhee doesn’t make those name plates or the coffee mug but you can get them on Amazon for about $15 each.
> 
> Tiny cameo from my OCs Lindy, as the employee in the store, and her mother Valentina as the recipient of the Holiday Chest.
> 
> Sorry (not sorry) I love socks for Christmas.
> 
> The sister site is Blue Q (not actually a sister site) and all the socks can be found on their site except the last two pairs that Heero gets, the last pair was inspired by an Invader Zim fan art I saw where Dib is holding up an Ugly Christmas sweater with fornicating Reindeer on the front (Zim looked unimpressed) the other pair (Happy Elfin’ Holiday), I actually own but I don’t remember where I got them, most likely Wal-Mart.


End file.
